The use of electronic devices that include flat panel displays is very popular and is increasing at an accelerating rate. These electronic devices include, for example, flat panel displays that contain electroluminescent (EL) lamps, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), or plasma components that create visible radiation—usually in a matrix display. Most of these displays require multiple optical filters to adjust performance characteristics of the display that include the degree of neutrality and level of transmitted color, the level of reflected radiation, the color shift with changes in the viewing angle, and the transmission levels of undesirable near infrared and electromagnetic interference (EMI) radiation.
Optical filters with EMI shielding have been developed that can absorb visible radiation, infrared radiation, adjust color, reduce reflection, and can shield the observer from harmful (EMI) radiation. Usually a number of different optical filters in combination with EMI shielding films, especially films with transparent conductive mesh configurations, have been used to produce the final, desired visual output of the device. Some of these optical filters have employed interference stacks (e.g., Fabry-Perot) of alternating conductors and dielectrics to adjust the optical performance characteristics of the filters, while also providing EMI shielding. The conductors in these stacks are usually metal layers and the dielectrics are usually metal oxides layers. The metal oxide layers can have a very slow deposition rate which can lead to high production costs. The use of multiple optical filters in electronic devices to obtain desired performance characteristics can increase costs, make the devices bulky, and cause considerable loss in transmission of the desired images.